PHILIPPINE HISTORY Pre-Colonial Period

1
PHILIPPINE HISTORYPre-Colonial Period

• Arts Letters
• University of Santo Tomas
• Manila
• Prepared by
• Mr. Ernie Ronel T. Mabahague

2
Pre-Colonial Philippines

• Society
• Mode of Dressing
• Ornaments
• Houses
• Social Classes
• Status of Women
• Marriage customs
• Mixed Marriages, Inheritance and Succession

3
Pre-Colonial Philippines

• Politics
• Government
• Laws
• Legislation
• Judicial Process
• Trial by Ordeal

• C. Religion
• Religious Beliefs
• Burial
• Divination and Magic Charms

4
Pre-Colonial Philippines

• E. Culture
• Languages
• System of Writing
• Literature
• Music and Dance
• Art

• D. Economic Life
• Agriculture
• Livestock
• Fishing
• Mining
• Lumbering and Shipbuilding
• Weaving
• Trade

5

• Long before the Spaniards came to the
  Philippines, Filipinos had a civilization of
  their own. This civilization partly came from
  the Malay settlers and partly from their response
  to the new environment. Many of these customs
  and traditions, government and way of life, have
  come down to the present day, despite the changes
  brought about by westernization and
  modernization. This is why it is possible to
  know about our distant past by simply observing
  some customs and practices that have resisted
  change and modernization.

6
Society

• Philippine pre-colonial society is both different
  and the same as in the present. Some aspects of
  the pre-colonial period have survived into our
  time. The following is a description of the way
  of life of pre-colonial Filipinos.

7
Mode of Dressing

• male attire was composed of the kanggan
  (sleeveless jacket) and bahag (loincloth)
• the color of the kanggan indicates rank red for
  the chief, black or blue for the commoners
• men also wear a turban called putong, which also
  tell the social status/achievement of the
  individual wearing it
• female attire consisted of baro or camisa (jacket
  with sleeves) and saya or patadyong (a long
  skirt) some women wore a piece of red or white
  cloth on top of their skirt called tapis

Bogobo man woman
Kalinga subuanon women
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putong
Bogobo man
9
Ornaments

• men and women wore ornaments to look attractive
• both wear kalumbiga, pendants, bracelets, and
  leglets
• these ornaments were made of gold
• some wore gold fillings between the teeth
• tattoos were also fashionable for some
  pre-colonial Filipinos they also exhibit a mans
  war record
• Islas del Pintados term coined by the Spaniards
  for the Visayans

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Bontoc men
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Houses

• built to suit the tropical climate
• called bahay kubo, made of wood, bamboo, and nipa
  palm it was built on stilts and can be entered
  through ladders that can be drawn up
• some Filipinos, such as the Kalingas, Mandayas
  and Bagobos built their houses on treetops
• others, such as the Badjaos, built their houses
  on boats

12
Social Classes

• the society was made up of three classes nobles
  (made up of the datu and their families),
  mahadlika or maharlika (freemen) and the alipin
  (dependents)
• members of the nobility were addressed with the
  title Gat or Lakan among the Tagalogs

13

• alipin or dependents acquired their status by
  inheritance, captivity, purchase, failure to
  settle debts, or by committing a crime
• there were two kinds of dependents aliping
  namamahay and aliping sagigilid
• in the Visayas,
• dependents
• were of three
• kinds tumataban,
• tumarampok, and
• the ayuey

Maguindanao Sultan, nobles Alipins
14
Status of Women

• women in pre-colonial Philippine society had the
  right to inherit property, engage in trade and
  industry, and succeed to the chieftainship of the
  barangay in the absence of a male heir
• had the exclusive right to name their children
• men walked behind them as a sign of respect

15
Marriage customs

• men were in general, monogamous while their
  wives are called asawa, while concubines are
  called friends
• in order to win the hand of his lady, the man has
  to show his patience and dedication to both the
  lady and her parents
• courtship usually begins with paninilbihan
• if the man wins the trust of the parents, he does
  not immediately marry the woman, but he has to
  satisfy several conditions
• - give a dowry or bigay-kaya
• - pay the panghihimuyat
• - pay the wet nurse bigay-suso
• - pay the parents himaraw
• - bribe for the relatives called sambon
  (among the Zambals)

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• once he had settled all of the above
  requirements, he brings his parents to meet with
  the bride-to-bes parents to haggle and make the
  final arrangements this is called pamamalae or
  pamamanhikan or pamumulungan
• the wedding ceremonies vary depending on the
  status of the couple but normally, those from
  the upper class, a go-between was employed
• weddings are officiated by the priestess or
  babaylan
• uncooked rice is thrown on the couple after the
  wedding ceremony

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babaylan
Go to Religious Beliefs
18
Marriage ceremony - eating rice
Tausog wedding ceremony
19

• Muslim Filipinos have similar marriage customs
  the first stage was called pananalanguni or
  bethrothal it was followed by the consultation
  with the girls parents, who relays their
  decision to the village chief, who in turn
  informed the suitors parents of the decision
• dowry was also settled by the chief (pedsungud).
  This was of seven kinds 1. kawasateg, money
  given to the brides close relatives 2. siwaka,
  brassware given to those who helped arrange the
  wedding 3. enduatuan, brassware or animals for
  the village chief 4. pangatulian, jewelry given
  to the brides mother and aunts 5. tatas, blade
  given to the girls uncle 6. langkad, money
  given to the girls parents as fine for having
  bypassed the girls elder sister if she had any
  and 7. lekat, amount of money given to the girls
  attendant.

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• once everything is settled, the pegkawing, or the
  wedding ceremony follows
• the wedding ceremony is officiated by the hadji
• six days of festivities followed, and only on the
  seventh day could the couple sleep together

Muslim wedding
21
Mixed Marriages, Inheritance and Succession

• mixed marriages were allowed in pre-colonial
  society
• the status of children were dependent upon the
  status of the parents
• often, the status of children in mixed marriages
  is divided evenly between the parents
• single children of mixed marriage were half-free
  and half-dependent
• legitimate children inherited their parents
  property even without any written will and was
  divided equally among the children

22

• natural children inherited only a third of the
  inheritance of legitimate children
• children of dependent mothers are given freedom
  and a few things
• nearest relatives inherit the property of
  childless couples
• in succession, the first son of the barangay
  chieftain inherits his fathers position if the
  first son dies, the second son succeeds their
  father in the absence of male heirs, it is the
  eldest daughter that becomes the chieftain

23
Politics
24
Government

• unit of government was the barangay, which
  consisted of from 30 to 100 families. The term
  came from the Malay word balangay, meaning boat
• barangays were headed by chieftains called datu
• the subjects served their chieftain during wars,
  voyages, planting and harvest, and when his house
  needs to be built or repaired they also paid
  tributes called buwis

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balangay
26

• the chief or datu was the chief executive, the
  legislator, and the judge he was also the
  supreme commander in times of war
• alliances among barangays were common and these
  were formalized in a ritual called sangduguan
• conflicts between or
• among barangays
• were settled by
• violence those who
• win by force is
• always right

27
Laws

• were either customary (handed down from
  generation to generation orally) or written
  (promulgated from time to time as necessity
  arose)
• dealt with various subjects such as inheritance,
  property rights, divorce, usury, family
  relations, divorce, adoption, loans, etc.
• those found guilty of crimes were punished either
  by fine or by death some punishments can be
  considered as torture by modern standards
• however, it must be noted that ancients did not
  believe in endangering society by letting loose a
  gang of thieves of recidivists who are incapable
  of reform

28
Legislation

• before laws are made, the chief consults with a
  council of elders who approved of his plan
• they are not immediately enforced until the new
  legislation is announced to the village by the
  umalohokan, who also explains the law to everyone

29
Judicial Process

• disputes between individuals were settled by a
  court made up of the village chief and the
  council of elders between barangays, a board
  made up of elders from neutral barangays acted as
  arbiter
• the accused and the accuser faced each other in
  front of the court with their respective
  witnesses
• both took an oath to tell the truth most of the
  time, the one who presents the most witnesses
  wins the case
• if the losing party contests the decision, he is
  bound to lose in the end because the chief always
  take the side of the winner

30
Trial by Ordeal

• to determine the innocence of an accused, he is
  made to go through a number of ordeals which he
  must pass
• examples include dipping ones hand in boiling
  water, holding a lighted candle that must not be
  extinguished, plunging into a river and staying
  underwater for as long as possible, chewing
  uncooked rice and spitting, etc.
• among the Ifugaos, ordeal by combat was common,
  i.e. bultong (wrestling), alaw (duel)

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bultong
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Religion
33
Religious Beliefs

• pre-colonial Filipinos believed in the
  immortality of the soul and in life after death
• they also believed in the existence of a number
  of gods whom they worship and made offerings to
  according to rank
• i.e. Bathalang Maykapal (Creator), Idinayale (god
  of agriculture), Sidapa (god of death), Balangaw
  (rainbow god), Mandarangan (war god), Agni (fire
  god) Lalahon (goddess of harvest), Siginarugan
  (god of hell), Diyan Masalanta (goddess of love),
  etc.

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Agni (India)
Bathala
35

• also showed respect for animals and plants like
  the crocodile, crow, tigmamanukin some trees
  were not also cut because they were thought to be
  divine
• diseases were thought to be caused by the temper
  of the environmental spirits
• Filipinos also venerated the dead by keeping
  alive their memory by carving idols of stone,
  gold or ivory called likha or larawan food, wine
  and other things were also shared with the dead

36

• adored idols called anitos or diwatas to whom
  they made offerings
• some anitos were considered bad however, they
  made offerings to them too in order to appease
  them or placate their anger
• priestesses such as the babaylan/ baylana or
  katalona acted as mediums to communicate with
  these spirits

37
Burial

• the dead was placed in a wooden coffin and buried
  under the house complete with cloth, gold and
  other valuable things
• upon the death of the person, fires were made
  under the house and armed men acted as sentinels
  to guard the corpse from sorcerers
• professional mourners were hired to accentuate
  the depth of mourning

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• sometimes, the relatives of the dead wore rattan
  bands around their arms, legs and necks and they
  abstained from eating meat and drinking wine
• the ancients distinguished mourning for a woman
  from that of a man morotal (for women) and
  maglahi (for men)
• mourning for a dead chief is called laraw, and
  this was accompanied by certain prohibitions like
  engaging in petty quarrels, wars, carrying
  daggers with hilts in the normal position,
  singing in boats coming from the sea or river,
  and wearing loud clothes

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• some ancients fasted and limited their nutrition
  to vegetables among the Tagalogs, this is called
  sipa
• relatives of the dead who was murdered would not
  end their mourning until they have exacted
  vengeance or balata
• the celebration held on the ninth night after the
  death of the person is called pasiyam, in which a
  play called tibaw is staged to honor the dead

42
Divination and Magic Charms

• ancient Filipinos are quite superstitious and put
  much stock into auguries, and magic charms
• they interpreted signs in nature like the flight
  of birds, the barking of dogs, the singing of
  lizards, and the like, as good or bad omens
  depending on the circumstances
• they also consulted with the pangatauhan, or
  soothsayers, to tell their fortunes

43

• there was also a belief in the existence of the
  aswang, mangkukulam, manggagaway, tiyanak, and
  the tikbalang
• amulets and charms were also used by the ancients
  like the anting-anting, gayuma, odom or
  tagabulag, wiga or sagabe, and tagahupa
• these beliefs were not eradicated with the coming
  of Western civilization and most of them were
  practiced behind the backs of the Christian
  missionaries
• the result was a blending of pagan and Christian
  beliefs that made Filipino Catholicism unique

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Economic Life
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Agriculture

• main source of livelihood
• rice, coconuts, sugar cane, cotton, hemp,
  bananas, oranges, and many species of fruits and
  vegetables were grown
• done in two ways kaingin system (slash and
  burn) and tillage
• when the Spaniards came to the Philippines, they
  noted that Cebu and Palawan were abundant in many
  agricultural foodstuffs

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• agricultural productivity was enhanced by use of
  irrigation ditches like those found in the Ifugao
  Rice Terraces
• landholding was either public (less arable land
  that could be tilled freely by anyone) and
  private (rich and cultivated lands belonging to
  nobles and datus)
• some rented land and paid in gold or in kind

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Livestock

• the daily fare consisted of rice and boiled fish,
  or sometimes pork or venison, carabao or wild
  buffalo meat
• fermented the sap of palm trees and drank it as
  liquor called tuba

• Pre-colonial Filipinos raised chickens, pigs,
  goats, carabaos, and small native ponies

52
Fishing

• was a thriving industry for those who live in the
  coast or near rivers and lakes
• various tools for fishing such as nets, bow and
  arrow, spear, wicker basket, hooks and lines,
  corrals and fish poisons were used
• pearls fisheries also abound in Sulu

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Fishing with bow arrow
Mining

• comparatively developed before the coming of the
  Spaniards
• the ancients mined gold in many parts of the
  archipelago and were traded throughout the
  country and with other countries

54
Lumbering and Shipbuilding

• were flourishing industries
• Filipinos were said to be proficient in building
  ocean-going vessels
• all kinds of boats or ships were built, which the
  Spaniards later call banca, balangay, lapis,
  caracoa, virey, vinta and prau

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Weaving

• home industry
• that was
• dominated
• by women
• using crude
• wooden looms,
• textiles such as
• sinamay from hemp, medrinaque from banana,
  cotton, linen, and silk, were woven

57
Trade

• was conducted between or among barangays, or even
  among the islands
• there was trade too with other countries such as
  China, Siam, Japan, Cambodia, Borneo, Sumatra,
  Java, and other islands of old Malaysia
• did not use any currency but conducted trade
  through barter
• sometimes, goods were priced in terms of gold or
  metal gongs
• Chinese traders noted that Filipinos were very
  honest in their commercial transactions

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Culture

• Philippine pre-colonial culture was basically
  Malayan in structure and form. They had written
  language which was used not just for
  communication but also for literary expression.
  They also had music and dances for almost all
  occasions and a wide variety of musical
  instruments that shows their ingenuity.

60
Languages

• there are more than one hundred languages in the
  Philippines, eight of which are considered major
  languages. They are Tagalog, Iloko, Pangasinan,
  Pampangan, Sugbuhanon, Hiligaynon, Samarnon or
  Samar-Leyte, and Magindanao

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• these languages are descended from Austronesian
  or Malayo-Polynesian language
• the differences might be accounted for the need
  to forming new words and phrases to fit the new
  environment
• many of the words or terms in Filipino languages
  were derived from Malayan

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System of Writing

• before the arrival of the Spaniards, Filipinos
  used a syllabary which was probably of Sanskrit
  or Arabic provenance
• the syllabary consisted of seventeen symbols, of
  which three were vowels and fourteen consonants
• no one is certain about the direction of writing
• Fr. Pedro Chirinos theory is that the ancients
  wrote from top to bottom and from left to right

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• pre-colonial Filipinos wrote on bark of trees, on
  leaves and bamboo tubes, using their knives and
  daggers, pointed sticks or iron as pens and the
  colored saps of trees as ink
• only a few of this writings survive into the
  present because early Spanish missionaries
  destroyed many manuscripts on the ground that
  they are the work of the Devil himself
• some pieces of literature, however, have been
  handed down to us orally

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Laguna Copperplate InscriptionBy Hector
Santoshttp//isanghamahal.blogspot.com/2006_03_01
_archive.html Antoon Postma, a Dutch national who
has lived most of his life among the Mangyans in
the Philippines and the director of the Mangyan
Assistance Research Center in Panaytayan,
Mansalay, Oriental Mindoro, was able to translate
the writing. His effort is all the more
remarkable when you consider that the text was in
a language similar to four languages (Sanskrit,
Old Tagalog, Old Javanese, and Old Malay) mixed
together The text was written in Kavi, a
mysterious script which does not look like the
ancient Tagalog script known as baybayin or
alibata. Neither does it look similar to other
Philippine scripts still used today by isolated
ethnic minorities like the Hanunóos and the
Buhids of Mindoro, and the Tagbanwas of Palawan.
It is the first artifact of pre-Hispanic origin
found in the Philippines that had writing on
copper material Postma's translation provides a
lot of exciting surprises. Like most other
copperplate documents, it gives a very precise
date from the Sanskrit calendar which corresponds
to 900 A.D. in our system. It contains placenames
that still exist around the Manila area today. It
also lists the names of the chiefs of the places
mentioned. The placenames mentioned prove the
Philippine connection of the LCI. The names are
still recognizable today although almost eleven
centuries have passed since the document was
issued. The placenames are Pailah (Paila), Tundun
(Tundo), Puliran (Pulilan), Binwangan
(Binwangan), Dewata (Diwata), and Medang
(Medang)
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Laguna copperplate inscription
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Literature

• pre-colonial literature may be classified into
  floating or oral and written literature
• Tagalogs have the bugtong (riddle), suliranin and
  indulanin (street songs), sabi (maxim), sawikain
  (saying), talindaw (boat songs), diyuna (song of
  revelry), kumintang (war song which evolved into
  a love song), dalit and umbay (dirge), tagumpay,
  balikungkong, dupayinin and hiliraw (war songs),
  uyayi and hele (lullabies), ihiman (bridal song),
  tagulaylay (mournful song), tigpasin (rowing
  song), tingad (household song), and kutang-kutang
  (couplets usually chanted by the blind)

70

• songs, dance and the drama probably developed
  simultaneously
• most of the pre-colonial drama was held in the
  sambahan or places of worship
• these dealt with various subjects including love,
  war, legends, the memory of the deceased, and war
  heroes

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• dramas developed into different forms such as the
  pagbati, karagatan, tagayan, pananapatan,
  sabalan, and tibaw
• the karagatan was a debate in verse in which a
  problem is resolved it developed into the duplo
  during the Spanish period and then into the
  balagtasan in 1924 during the American period
• tibaw on the other hand is perform during the
  pasiyam

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• Maranaw literature, inspired by Islam, consisted
  of tutul (folk tale), tubad-tubad (short love
  poems), pananaro-on (sayings and proverbs),
  sowa-sowa-i (drama), antoka (riddle or puzzle),
  and darangan (epic poetry)
• Ilocano literature, for its part, has many kinds
  of songs sung on different occasions this
  include dal-ot (song during baptismal party,
  wedding, or a feast), badeng (love song sung in a
  serenade), and dung-aw (dirge)

73

• Filipinos were fond of composing epic poetry,
  which is why the country is unique for having
  more than twenty epic poems. Examples of this
  are Hudhud and Alim (Ifugao), Biag ni Lam-Ang
  (The Life of Lam-Ang / Ilocano), Bantugan,
  Indarapatra at Sulayman, and
• Bidasari
• (Moslems)

Igorots reciting Hudhud
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Princess Lanawen to be won by Prince Bantugan
Princess Bidasari story is like Snow Whites
Indarapata Sulayman
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Music and Dance

• Filipinos are naturally fond of both music and
  dance, and usually, whenever music is played, it
  is accompanied by dance

76

• some examples of pre-colonial musical instruments
  include kudyapi (Tagalog), bansic or a cane with
  four holes and gangsa or a small guitar (Negritos
  of Luzon), abafii a Malay music instrument
  (Igorots), gongs, Jews harp, bamboo flute,
  kutibeng or a guitar
• with five strings (Ilocano),
• kalaleng or a nose flute
• and diwdiw-as or pan
• pipe made of seven
• bamboos reeds
• (Tinguians)

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• examples of the native dances, which depict
  different events include Potato Dance, Torture
  Dance, Duel Dance, Lovers Dance (Negritos)
  macasla dance (Tagbanua), kinnotan or ants dance
  and the kinnallogong or hat dance (Ilocano)
  balitaw and dandansoy (Visayan) balatong, dalit,
  hiliraw, kutang-kutang, lulay, indulanin,
  kumintang, salampati, tagulaylay, subli,
  barimbaw, and tagayan (Tagalog)

79

• this shows that Filipinos have songs and dances
  for almost all occasions and because of their
  frequent association, their social organization
  was more well-knit than it is today

80
Art

• first glimpse can be seen in primitive tools and
  weapons that were polished along the lines of
  leaves and petals of flowers
• can also be seen in beads, amulets, bracelets,
  and other ornaments made of jade, red cornelian,
  and other stones
• dyed and ornamented their barkcloth with designs
  of attractive colors

81

• in the Iron Age, aside from armlets, bracelets,
  rings, and headbands, tattoos also became
  fashionable metals and glass also came into use
  weaving became a preoccupation for women weapons
  were manufactured with designs on their handles
  pottery with incised designs were made and
  carvings made of wood, bone, ivory or horn were
  also done not only for the use of the living but
  also of the dead

82
Sarimanok
utensils
gangsa
83

• the zigszag designs on ancient lime tubes and the
  ornamental carvings on combs reflect Negrito
  influence
• Indonesian influence can be seen in the apparel
  of the Kalingas, Maranaos, Manobos and Bagobos
• Malay influence can be traced to the wood
  carvings found in utensils, boats, and wooden
  shields of the people of Sulu, Mindanao and
  Mountain Province

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Igorot shields
85

• Islamic influence can be gleaned from the
  ornamental and decorative art of the Lanao
  Muslims most represent geometric and plant
  designs because Islam is iconoclastic
• Ifugao art deals with human and animal
  representations but not fish and plant forms
  Ifugao art is functional

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Igorot bamboo art
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Sources

• wikipedia.org
• tribo.org
• apat-na-alon-tribe.com
• aenet.org
• elaput.org
• filipiniana.net
• veimages.gsfc.nasa.gov
• phivolcs.dost.gov.ph
• kheper.net
• msuiit.edu.ph
• seasite.niu.edu
• philippines.hvu.nl
• kabayancentral.com
• filipinoheritage.com
• malignosrealm.netfirms.com
• sinemamalaysia.com.my
• sacred-texts.com/hin/iml/iml07.htm
• reflectionsofasia.com/anting_anting.htm
• gutenberg.org/files/12849/12849-h/12849-h.htm